Να ’μουν νύχτα στο γιαλό

Listen

If I could be, if I could be, could be upon the shore at night
to light a lamp, to light a lamp, to light a lamp so I might see.

Good auntie Nikolákena, don’t you go gath’ring vegetables.
Where are they kindling bonfires now for little girls to overleap?

There was a host of folks assembled in the archdeacon’s close;
a marriage service was afoot, a man was being wedded there.

Translated by John Leatham

Να ’μουν νύχτα στο γιαλό

Να ’μουν νύ- μωρέ, να ’μουν νύ- να ’μουν νύχτα στο γιαλό,
ν’ ανάψω λύ- μωρέ, ν’ ανάψω λύ- ν’ ανάψω λύχνο για να ιδώ.

Θεια μου Νικολάκαινα,
να μην πας για λάχανα.
Πού τσ’ ανάβουν τσι φωτιές
και πηδάνε οι μικρές;
Στου αρχιδιάκου την αυλή
μαζευτήκανε πολλοί.
Γάμος εγινότανε,
κάποιος παντρευότανε.

Information

Collaborators

Albums

Notes

The allusions and word-plays in this song cannot be rendered into English. The incoherence and lack of meaning here are not fortuitous. The words are broken down into sounds and linked to one another not by virtue of their significance but through a relationship based solely on the weight of their acoustic value. The song functions almost like an incantation, in other words, like a magic spell, unclear and obscure, which is spoken to serve a specific purpose –in this case, to promote fertility– and furthermore to create the necessary sexual atmosphere simply through the utterance of sex-related words. Miranda Terzopoulou (1994)

Recording information

Live recording in the taverna 'To Monastiri', in Athens, in 1993.

Member Comments

0 Comments

Post a comment


up to 2000
Login to post a comment

See also

dvd2_badge
Song
Auntie Nikolakaina (Explicit)
Auntie Nikolakena, you haven’t acted very wisely; you silly bitch, you’ve sent your girl to gather sticks for kindling. The...
d18_badge
Song
He's Dead Is Master Meat
He’s dead, o mother dear, he’s dead, he’s dead is Master Meat, he’s dead is Master Meat, he’s dead, and Master Cheese is dyi...
dvd2_badge
Song
I Have Grown Old, Goddam It
'I have grown old, goddammit, friends, I have grown old and cannot now, I have grown old and cannot now sing the songs I use...
d27_badge
Song
A Fair Maid Did Sing
A fair maid sang up upon a rope bridge, but the bridge collapsed, and the river stood still. And the river spirit came to h...
d20_badge
Song
All Attend at Church
Easter Dance All attend –for sake of Christ– all attend at church to exclaim that ‘Christ is Risen!’ and to hear the Word. As for me, th...
d18_badge
Song
Auntie Nikolakaina (Explicit)
Auntie Nikolakena, you haven’t acted very wisely; you silly bitch, you’ve sent your girl to gather sticks for kindling. The...
d18_badge
Song
Now List, Good Man (Explicit)
Now list, good man, just list to me, to what I have to tell. Just list to what I have to tell of what befell a widow, a wre...
d27_badge
Song
The Glass Well
Aidès ki amàn amàn, have you heard the news? Have you heard what happened down at the well of glass? A wild beast appeared,...